SK Communications, a South Korea-based company that owns and operates social networking game CyWorld and Internet portal Nate, suffered from a considerable cyber attack in July. The assault, thought to have originated from China, compromised the personal information of around 35 million users. One of those 35 million successfully took the company to task for its perceived security failures. He could be the first of many.
Asian site Yonhap News Agency broke the story of Chung (yes, just Chung), an aggrieved 25-year-old man who sued SK Communications in early August for 1 million won and...won. Over the weekend, a Seoul court granted his demand. Chung is now $925 richer.
Unsurprisingly, SK Communications isn't happy about the decision.
According to Yonhap, a spokesperson said the company plans to "raise objection to the court order and file a lawsuit against it." Appealing court rulings could soon become second-nature for SK, which is reportedly awaiting judgment on a similar claim for triple the amount awarded to Chung.
A report from the Korea Times confirmed that affected users were contemplating a class-action lawsuit against the company just one week after news of the attack came out.
Paul Ducklin, Head of Technology for Sophos' Asia Pacific branch, opined that despite the recent ruling (and potential future ones) SK Communications is still the victim of a staggering security breach and not guilty of any crimes. Chung's case has proven that the company is certainly still liable to some extent.
